We are two months out from the 2022 midterm elections deciding hundreds of seats at every level of government. These races will also act as a referendum for a President that has battled high inflation and low approval ratings. At the center of attention is the Senate, and at a current 50–50 split, any seat flips are likely to make waves. In Pennsylvania, incumbent Pat Toomey (R) is retiring, with Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz vying to fill his seat. The Keystone State has long been a key electoral background as a deciding state in every presidential election since 2008. With the control of an entire body of Congress at stake, here are the 2022 Pennsylvania Senate nominees.
In the blue corner is Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman. Fetterman began his political life as mayor of Braddock, PA, a small suburb east of Pittsburgh decimated in recent years by the decline of the steel industry and the opioid crisis. Fetterman’s experience may allow him to better appeal to rural and rust belt citizens, a bloc that has fled Democrats in recent years. Fetterman, a self-described “progressive,” is a pro-choice proponent of a wealth tax and a single-payer healthcare system. With a combination of mostly left-wing and some centrist positions, Fetterman is hoping to thread the needle and flip this seat blue.
In the red corner is physician and television celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz. After emerging from a bitterly fought primary against the likes of hedge fund manager David McCormick and political commentator Kathy Barnette, Oz emerged as the winner after securing the critical endorsement of former President Donald Trump. From this point, Oz has fought an uphill battle, facing a vast fundraising deficit after a costly primary where he won by fewer than 1000 votes. Oz has also confronted questions about his residency, having lived in New Jersey for much of his adult life. Those are both large problems, but what has vexed him the most so far is the very thing propelling his opponent: his “vibe.”
Fetterman’s allure is odd. He is a large, gregarious man with a six-foot-nine frame, weighing in at nearly 300 pounds. He refuses to wear a suit to most events, often appearing at campaign events in basketball shorts and a hoodie. Presenting himself as such creates a very down-home, rustic aura largely at odds with the increasingly cosmopolitan Democratic party; perhaps that is why he has struck such a cord with Pennsylvanians and has a wide lead in early polls. What is odd about Fetterman is not that he possesses this persona — Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) have similar public images — but that he combines it with a progressive brand of politics not often seen outside of major metro areas. His only obviously moderate stance is on fracking. Instead of an outright ban, he supports responsible permitting, an attempt to appeal to both urban progressives and more moderate voters in central PA.
Contrast this with Oz. A campaign video from August featured the former TV host shopping for groceries, where he blamed Joe Biden for the rising price of the vegetables he needed for “crudités.” The video, meant to highlight what Republicans see as a winning issue — inflation — only served to make him appear in the eyes of many as a rich, out-of-touch opportunist. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, given that Americans have elected plenty of rich guys and/or celebrities of a similar ilk to high office (Mitt Romney in MA, Arnold Schwarzenegger in CA, Sonny Bono, etc.) in the past. Oz’s specific problem is that he is simultaneously trying to be an “America First” Trump Republican, directly clashing with his prior persona.
Perhaps it is reflective of the contemporary Republican Party that fealty to the former President is a necessity. Oz could not afford to shirk cozying up to the former President — that would have cost him his endorsement and the race. He encountered that prerequisite firsthand in the primary, where his Turkish citizenship proved to be a major obstacle for many would-be voters. Oz and Trumpland simply do not mix. You cannot easily claim to be the candidate for nationalistic heartland Republicans when you own a dozen homes, have a Hollywood Star and call a veggie tray “crudités.”
We are an increasingly image-obsessed public, and our politicians have come to reflect this fact. Gridlock in Congress means that many of our elected leaders are effectively social media influencers, leveraging outrage from the opposition to coax donations from the base to fuel increasingly lavish re-election campaigns. That is why it is all the more surprising that we have a heartland progressive Democrat facing off against an “America First” celebrity doctor. The choice is yours, Pennsylvania.